Blue Mass Group

The election is Tuesday. Haven’t decided yet who you are voting for in the Boston Mayoral and/or At-Large Council races?

Want to know where the candidates stand on issues ranging from affordable housing to youth violence to economic development?

Then check out the Progressive Voter Guide, brought to you by the JP Progressives.

It’s chock full of detailed answers from the candidates on a whole range of questions. If you’re looking for substance, this is the place to go.

Learn more after the jump….

I have to admit that it’s been very long since I was so happy with two choices in a Democratic Primary.  This was left me consequently dismayed by the direction some supporters’ passions have led them.  While I certainly have a preference right now (Capuano), I would be quite happy with Capuano or Coakley in the Senate.  Not least of all because they both have much to offer, often in the same vein.

Time line for Special Election for the US Senate Deadline to register to vote in primary 11/18/2009 State Primary for US Senate Nomination 12/8/2009 Deadline to Register to vote for Senator 12/30/2009 Election for US Senator 1/19/2009 Where to find out where to vote:  http://www.wheredoivotema.com/… Where to find out where to register to vote:  http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele… The right to vote is precious.  Democracy only works if the governed are informed and participate.  That means YOU.

Well, Joe Lieberman could hardly be any clearer that he means to single-handedly (in the Dem caucus) scotch the public option — even that he'd scuttle the whole damn ball of wax just to prevent it. And yet, the reaction from Harry Reid, the President, Chris Dodd, and all has been rather sanguine … or at least they don't feel they need to burn bridges — such as they exist — yet. So what's going on? Well, still lurking behind all the negotiating, skullduggery, and open threats is the prospect of reconciliation — 51 votes in the Senate can pass legislation that deals with the deficit in some substantial way — no filibuster. The public option, particularly the strong, Medicare-linked variety, is a money-saver. Big time. Even the House's health care bill with the limited PO improves the deficit. So presumably, the public option fits very neatly into the reconciliation-eligible category. However, much of the rest of health care, particularly the new regulations on the insurance industry, the personal mandate, and a whole raft of accompanying legislation, might not be eligible.  So why not pass the big health care bill minus the PO, with 60 votes — presumably including Snowe [...]

Last night I caught a rerun on CSPAN of Wednesday’s ceremony honoring Senator Brooke with the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor awarded by Congress.  Senator Brooke was nominated two years ago by Senator Kennedy in recognition of his years of public service and the historic significance of his elections.  Speakers included President Obama, Senator Kerry, Congressman Patrick Kennedy, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, Speaker Pelosi, and the floor leaders of both parties in both chambers.  Brooke was a Rockefeller Republican with many of the progressive views that label implies.  He was the first black person to be elected AG of any state, serving 1963-1967, and the first popularly elected (as opposed to legislatively elected) black US Senator from any state, serving 1967-1979.  He also celebrated his 90th birthday last Monday.

I was surprised to hear that Coakley broke with her cautious campaign strategy to toss her weight around in the small town of North Adams. If you haven’t heard, the AG has endorsed the challenger to Mayor Barret, who has served the 14,000 residents of North Adams for the past 26 years.   Kennedyseat.com thought that “it is rare for a candidate in a race of her own, like Coakley, to weigh-in during a local election, even more rare when both candidates are Democrats”.   IMO this is an especially surprising move in light of Coakley’s hesitancy to campaign while AG. The AG has not been seen stumping much in MA and would not even answer questions about her campaign, going as far as to duck into a souvenir shop to avoid a reporter’s questions (and don’t tell me she was wearing her AG hat while in the souvenir shop!). Remember this exchange?   Chabot: “Can you explain why, as a Senate candidate, you’re not speaking to your campaign finance records?” Mean Martha: “No, thank you.” Chabot: “Why can’t you explain that?” Mean Martha: “I’m not going to talk to you about it. Anybody else have any questions? Thanks.”   [...]

12 weeks ago, I would have been mildly OK with Martha Coakley coasting into Sen. Kennedy’s seat.  She’s smart and capable and she’s a woman, and dammit, that’s important to me.  

But after many progressive friends, several of whom worked tirelessly and effectively on Obama’s 08 campaign, started talking about Alan Khazei to me, I gave him a look, and the more I learn, the more I am convinced this is an incredible candidate for US Senate, and exactly the sort of “change we need”, the exact post-Obama candidate many of us didn’t even know we needed til we started to get involved b/c of new work on Obama’s campaign.  

I know this has been discussed here recently, but I think a case example would be useful.

Let’s say there are ten individuals vying for six at-large seats to the Poobah Council: Tom, Sandra, David, Mary, Joanie, Susan, Nancy, Elizabeth, Tommy, and Nicholas. The first six are incumbents, and the last four are challengers.

Every voter may use all six of their votes if they choose to do so. But is that a good idea?

Well, it depends. Most of the time it is not a winning strategy.

Study: Casino resorts bring ‘good jobs’

“The workers in the casino hotels make two times the minimum wage and a full 30-percent more than non-gaming workers in that same category (those who did not complete a college education),” Dr. Moyer said, noting that casino hotel employees without a completed college education were also more likely to have health care coverage.

Check out the NECN interview with UMass’ Labor Resource Center Director Dr. Susan Moir. Common sense, real look at job creation under the Governor’s Resort casino proposal.

On Friday, Martha Coakley endorsed Dick Alcombright for Mayor of her hometown, North Adams. The endorsement is a boost for Alcombright because the incumbent mayor has been campaigning on his strong connections to state and federal officials to help ‘bring home the bacon’ during this economic downturn. It also gains very little politically or vote wise for Coakley and is being interpreted as a direct knock on incumbent mayor John Barrett, who, along with North Adams Rep. Dan Bosley had endorsed Mike Capuano.

LATE UPDATE: Sunday night John Kerry’s office issued an endorsement of incumbent mayor John Barrett.

There are three other factors that seemed to influence Coakley’s decision: